Quiet places

It was on our first day in Death Valley that Lisa noticed it. We’d left Tecopa and were driving in via Highway 178. We got out of our car to scramble around and Lisa stopped me. “Do you hear that?” she asked. There were no planes overhead, no cars on the road, no rustling leaves, no voices in the distance — nothing. It was surreal. We experienced that quiet many times in Death Valley and it was always powerful. But the first time was the best. Agua Caliente was the second-quietest spot we found … until the Boy Scouts arrived. White Sands was a pretty close third when the planes were grounded. And Highway 50 in Nevada … pretty much all of Nevada, minus Las Vegas, really.

Read Our Book:

Read about Paul fighting off a charging bear with a Fat Tire beer can (kinda made up). And this: Lisa meeting a talking piece of poo in the middle of the desert (maybe that was dehydration). And we realize that the meaning of life is wrapped up in a motel waffle (this is probably true).